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At that time, my dad patted me on the back with a friendly voice, as if he were a shield.
It was so warm. His hands were so soft. I almost cried for a moment without realizing it.
In the meantime, we reached right in front of the Emperor.
“I’ve seen you a long time ago when I was a prince, but I’ve never seen you like this before, Grand Duke.”
“I see. I couldn’t come because I was so busy with construction.”
“You’re confident.”
“Is there anything you can’t be proud of? It’s not illegal, but instead, when you became the Emperor, you celebrated a lot. I’ve sent you quite a few gifts.”
Looking at my dad talking leisurely, I felt like my confidence was recovering little by little. In my memory, the Emperor was always overbearing, and everyone couldn’t hear his words.
However, the current Emperor gradually lost his words whenever my dad spoke.
Even his overbearing voice, somehow, began to fade away.
“Is the gift important, Grand Duke? I’ve suffered lots of rumors because of it, as an Emperor who doesn’t even welcome the Grand Duke.”
“I think it’s because Your Majesty became the Emperor, not because of me. The rumor spread because of the death of His Majesty the Emperor. Some people asked if the current Emperor had killed his younger brother, Emperor Shen.”
“…”
“I don’t want to get involved in that brotherly rebellion. The position of the Grand Duke has such an external image, so if you get involved in the wrong way, wouldn’t it be a disgrace?”
I lifted my head slightly and looked at my father.
I couldn’t see my dad’s expression because of his side profile, but somehow he seemed to be having fun. There was no conversation for a long time. All I heard was the sound of the Emperor groaning and clearing his throat.
“External image… Rumor has it that you’re doing some strange things for the first time. The Grand Duke only picks things up that are not good.”
“Because I do that, His Majesty the Emperor shines brighter.”
“Huh…?”
“If I had a good image, wouldn’t everyone follow me?’
“Is that why the image of the Grand Duke is all for me?’
“Of course, so don’t be so angry now that I’m here.”
The laughing Emperor’s voice came in for a long time.
“You’re so sly.”
I nodded my head in agreement with that remark. My father has all the characteristics of people who were slick in books before.
“Thank you for the compliment.”
“It’s not a compliment.”
“If the person who accepts it thinks it’s a compliment, it’s a compliment.”
“…You don’t lose a word. That’s enough. I don’t need to talk about this. I was really surprised anyway. I didn’t expect you to have a daughter because you didn’t even have a new woman after the death of the Grand Duchess.”
I was less nervous when they were talking about other things, but my mouth dried up when they started talking about me.
“Is that your new wife’s child?”
“No, it’s not.”
“Then?”
“It’s my child.”
The Emperor was speechless for a long time, as if he were very surprised by the fact.
“Whoa… your child… You have to explain why. She’s too big for your new wife to be born from.”
“You know that I have been looking for my child for a long time. I found her.”
I was afraid to see him in person, so I turned my head slightly and looked at the Emperor. But his gaze on me was somehow strange.
‘You don’t know?’
I was just wondering. I thought maybe he’d recognize me, that’s why he wanted to see me, but I didn’t do so at all.
Even though he was not too far away, the Emperor did not recognize me when I turned my head slowly.
“I can’t believe you’re looking for her. Are you sure it’s her?”
“Yes, she’s my daughter.”
“But she’s blond.”
“It’s like the former Grand Duchess Ellinson.”
Once it occurred to me that he didn’t recognize me, I turned more and more to him.
“I see. What’s her name? I got the report.”
“Bea… Bebe.”
“Huh? I don’t think it was that name.”
“No, it’s Bebe.”
Contrary to my expectation that he would say ‘Beatrice’, the name my mom gave to me when she gave birth, my dad pulled out ‘Bebe’, the name my mom called me every day.
“Is that so… Bebe… No wonder I’m so used to it.”
“You’ll get used to it. It’s the child that Your Majesty had locked up.”
At my father’s unexpected words, the Emperor’s face hardened for a moment.